Trojans sit in 8th at Battle For The Mississippi
SHERRARD, Ill. - The NIACC men's golf team is in eighth place after the first day of the Battle For The Mississippi Monday at the Frye Lake Golf Course.
NIACC shot a 309 heading into Tuesday's final 18 holes. Northeast CC is the first-day leader with a team score of 291 and Heartland CC is in second with a 292.
The top three Iowa schools (Northeast CC is considered an Iowa school as its a member of the ICCAC) and the top three Illinois schools determine the Battle For The Mississippi champion.
"We're in the hunt for a top three (Iowa) finish," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said, "but we need to put together 18 solid holes of golf on a very challenging golf course.
"The pin placements were very difficult (Monday) and you really need to keep your head in the game and hit your approach to the right spot on the green."
NIACC was led by sophomore Garrett Ham with an opening-round 75, which is tied for 15th in the individual medalist competition.
"Garrett Ham got off to a hot start (Monday)," Frenz said, "and while he's disappointed with his final score, he knows he's still got a shot to finish top 10 or better. He had a couple of unfortunate breaks on a few holes, but he accepted that and moved on."
Also for the Trojans Monday, freshman Hudson Kroymann shot 77, freshman Heath Voigt shot 78, freshman Eli Anderson shot 79 and sophomore Ashtin Willms shot 89.
"Hudson Kroymann, Heath Voigt and Eli Anderson really worked their tails off to keep themselves in the round," Frenz said. "It's a very mentally draining course, but overall I thought we handled it well.
"We're looking to climb up in the standings (Tuesday) to be part of the scoring teams for the Iowa side."
Team standings - Northeast CC 291, Heartland CC 292, Iowa Central 294, Black Hawk 296, Highland CC 298, Illinois Central 302, DMACC 305, NIACC 309, Southwestern CC 311, Danville Area CC 317, Hawkeye CC 318, Carl Sandburg College 331, Sauk Valley CC 332, Iowa Lakes 332,
